Flat base vs boat tail on game

[PBking51]

I love starting out with a story, so apologies if you want to help and don't need all the background info. Haha. You can scroll to the 3rd paragraph.

I usually start my PA deer season out with my trusty 1967 manufactured 700 in 30-06. I sit on stand all day in 1 of 2 spots with shots ranging from 10yards to 230 yards. For nostalgia reasons I have always bought a box of core-locts for it...even if I only shot 5 rounds out of the previous years box of bullets. My father does the same thing, albeit its the only gun he hunts with.
Never had a problem, and the bullets always did their job.

Well, for the last 2 years couldn't find the ammo on shelves and wasn't about to pay $40 a box at online retailers so we both combined past years bullets. I still have about 40 rounds on hand, and dad is a little low for the fact that he hunts just about everyday of the rifle season and fills all his tags eventually.

Question: I am looking to load up 200 rounds using the 1x fired brass we have accumulated over the years and have it all prepped. Now for bullet selection. I want to use 150gr Hornady interlock bullets and have the option of BT or FB bullets. I know that the BT have better BCs for longer range, but how about performance at say 10-300 yards? I read that accuracy tends to better with the FB as distances up to 200 yards, but my concern is the "shock" factor. Is one style of bullet better for game at the distances mentioned? Both bullets options are the SP variety with the led exposed at the nose of the bullet. At 100 yards they both shoot great out of my gun, but before committing to loading a good surplus of bullets I want to make sure I am loading the more effective recipe for white tail and black bear.

 

[okie]

no difference. i do like how a bt will sit in the case when i transfer from loading block to the press....otherwise, take your pick

 

[lazyMlazyK]

From what I've read, there isn't much of a difference between flat-base and boat-tail under 300 yards regarding accuracy or terminal performance. I'd take the boat-tail, given the opportunity, just for ease of seating.

 

[MikeT49]

No problems with flat base bullets when using RCBS Competition or Matchmaster seating dies. With the side "window", you just drop the bullet in.

 

[0.1 Aggregate]

Both bullets have virtually identical BCs so field trajectory will be identical out to 500+ yards. While I can't speak for those particular bullets, boat-tailed bullets in general often tend to shed their cores more than flat-based bullets do, this because of the base shape which tends to pinch cores out. It may make no difference, but if I were concerned about maximizing terminal performance and had no real data comparing the two bullets, I’d choose the flat-base bullet. Reloaders have been using flat-based bullets for well over a century without notable bullet seating problems.





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[K22]

Trust me, at the distances you are shooting, a deer will never know the difference between a flat base or boat tail bullet.

You are shooting at a target which has quite a large vital area at moderate distances therefore ultra precision is not needed.

The 30 - 06 is about as good as it gets for white tail - it will hammer them if you do your part. The 150 grain, Sierra Pro Hunter, flat base no frills bullet will work outstandingly on white tail. I've used it for years in a 308. The old stand by Remington Core Lock are excellent also.

Assuming a reasonably accurate rifle, 1 1/2 moa, the most influential factor is the shooter's performance.

Bottom Line: I wouldn't stress out about the type bullet for this application as long as it's a big game designed bullet. Just make sure your rifle is sighted in for the bullet you are using and you should be fine.

 

[JEFFPPC]

Flat base are usually easier to tune. Otherwise the deer will never know.

 

[AckleymanII]

OP, go to the hornady Web site and look how the core is locked in the base of the bullet with the flat base.

I had a 150g SST blow up on the shoulder of a buck about 50 yards out.

 

[spencerhenry]

I'd say ask all the animals I have shot with both, but then they are all dead!

 

[PBking51]

OP, go to the hornady Web site and look how the core is locked in the base of the bullet with the flat base.

I had a 150g SST blow up on the shoulder of a buck about 50 yards out.

Well the 2 bullets I was looking at are both "interlock" but what you are saying is a concern as it sounds like FB bullets tend to hold together better at higher velocities such with closer shots.

I'd venture to say that over half of the deer I have shot have been less than 100 yards.

 

[AckleymanII]

FB Hornady's hold together better than the Boat tail.

 

[Bugs]

Like K22 said, get some 150 grain flat base Sierra Pro Hunter's (or perhaps game king's? ) or maybe some old Hornady spire points or Speer spitzers, load to fairly pedestrian .308 velocities and prepare to fill your freezer.

 

[SmokinJoe]

They are not FB but not really boat tail either, but I have had my best kills with Nosler Ballistic Tips in appropriate weight for caliber. I would think that your '06 would do best with 150 - 180 gr but if you load them down below 3000fps the 125 works well on white tail deer, too.

 

[Okie John]

Flat base are usually easier to tune. Otherwise the deer will never know.

This has been my experience, but you probably won't need to tune the kind of load that you're talking about.

You could also try https://ammoseek.com/ They have 30-06 Core-Lokt ammo starting at $20.98/box.


Okie John

 

[JEFFPPC]

Like K22 said, get some 150 grain flat base Sierra Pro Hunter's (or perhaps game king's? ) or maybe some old Hornady spire points or Speer spitzers, load to fairly pedestrian .308 velocities and prepare to fill your freezer.

Hornady Spire Points, my all time favorite.

 

[HTSmith]

The Hornady flat base will do the job. I load them for my nephew and he's a deer killing machine. For a long throated Remington, I always give a light crimp into the cannelure of the bullet using a lee factory crimp die. Lots of powders will work but good ole IMR 4064 is hard to beat.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I would do both, buy a few (5) boxes of ammo. But if your spending 75+ cents each to reload(.30-.40 bullet, .10+ primer,.30-.50 powder) the Sierra gameking is probably going to have a better outcome accuracy/terminal performance.

 

[Laurie]

FB Hornady's hold together better than the Boat tail.

I don't know if it applies to today's bullets given the huge changes and vast additions in recent years, but go back a generation and it was always said that traditional cup & core FB designs were short distance and BTs long-distance and each was constructed for expansion with that in mind.

That is, the FBs would be used at under 150 yards and heavily constructed for the relatively high terminal MVs and the BTs had thinner weaker jackets in the nose/shoulder to allow full expansion at longer distances and lower terminal MVs. Somewhere, I have a book written a good few years ago re bullet expansion largely based on tests in a gel-filled tube device called 'The Bullet Tube' which went into the whole bullet construction / type vs terminal MVs variables issue. IIRC, it was said in it that older traditional .30-cal FB 'cup & core' designs were designed for optimal expansion at around 150 yards at 30-06 MVs. The internal shoulders on designs like Hornady's 'Interlocks' were designed to stop jacket and core separation on expansion, likewise more modern bonded-core types only they do it better.

 

[dellet]

Well the 2 bullets I was looking at are both "interlock" but what you are saying is a concern as it sounds like FB bullets tend to hold together better at higher velocities such with closer shots.

I'd venture to say that over half of the deer I have shot have been less than 100 yards.

The difference in base will have very little to do with terminal performance. It changes the balance point slightly, so may change the likelyhood of one to tumble on impact more than the other.

The SST (Super Shock Tip) is more fragile by design. The whole reason for the polymer tip is for a more rapid and explosive expansion than the soft point bullet.

Hornady has come out with a soft point interlock designed for varmints. I have not seen all of the details, but “designed for varmints” usually means comes apart more dramatically at lowers speeds. Not something you want in a high velocity bullet on tougher targets.

The choice of bullets you’re looking at should be made by which one you can get to group the best. Terminal performance will be more that adequate with either any of them. Don’t obsess over base design for what you are doing.

On a side note, if the hunting season will be made or lost over spending an extra $20 spent on the new price of ammo, you can gain that back with one less lunch out. Never mind you’ll spend more than that on load development.

Loading your own has a lot of other benefits, up front savings, is not one of them.

 

[ohlongarmisle]

I love starting out with a story, so apologies if you want to help and don't need all the background info. Haha. You can scroll to the 3rd paragraph.

I usually start my PA deer season out with my trusty 1967 manufactured 700 in 30-06. I sit on stand all day in 1 of 2 spots with shots ranging from 10yards to 230 yards. For nostalgia reasons I have always bought a box of core-locts for it...even if I only shot 5 rounds out of the previous years box of bullets. My father does the same thing, albeit its the only gun he hunts with.
Never had a problem, and the bullets always did their job.

Well, for the last 2 years couldn't find the ammo on shelves and wasn't about to pay $40 a box at online retailers so we both combined past years bullets. I still have about 40 rounds on hand, and dad is a little low for the fact that he hunts just about everyday of the rifle season and fills all his tags eventually.

Question: I am looking to load up 200 rounds using the 1x fired brass we have accumulated over the years and have it all prepped. Now for bullet selection. I want to use 150gr Hornady interlock bullets and have the option of BT or FB bullets. I know that the BT have better BCs for longer range, but how about performance at say 10-300 yards? I read that accuracy tends to better with the FB as distances up to 200 yards, but my concern is the "shock" factor. Is one style of bullet better for game at the distances mentioned? Both bullets options are the SP variety with the led exposed at the nose of the bullet. At 100 yards they both shoot great out of my gun, but before committing to loading a good surplus of bullets I want to make sure I am loading the more effective recipe for white tail and black bear.

Not wanting to cause an endless debate but ,in my years of killing inmo a flat base does everything right, better propellent seal as bullet leaves barrel,less muzzle blast, and way less things can go wrong, if your crown is less than stellar,or if you have throat wear,in my cases flat bases always exceeded in accuracy, individual results may vary this in what I've experienced.